The Penitent

Shrouded with hood,
I walk with head bowed,
pacing slow and solemn,
like a medieval penitent,
in nylon blue rain gear,
contemplating my footsteps,
my heartbeats,
the meter of my thoughts,
and the syncopated drumming
of raindrops upon my crown.

The gentle, sleepy rain,
not quite awake enough
to fall with purpose,
a sprinkle here and there,
it drifts in and out
of conversation with me.
What message is the rain
tapping out to me?

Entwining rhythms
of footsteps, heartbeats,
thoughts, and raindrops,
plus my unmeasured breath,
and countless other subcutaneous
and subterranean rhythms,
what aggregated morse code
am I tapping out to the universe?
An SOS? I Surrender?
Stay clear – under quarantine?
What message do I wish to emanate?
How do I change my rhythms
to send that signal?

Cnawan Fahey has walked down countless roads in this lifetime, but has found his greatest fulfillment in serving both as a Wilderness Guide and as a Spiritual Guide.
His personal credo is "Explore the Great Mystery", a credo which he has lived out in his many excursions through a multiplicity of Eco-Systems and Belief-Systems.
Like many other spiritual seekers, Cnawan has found the veils between the spiritual and physical planes to be the most transparent in the natural world. There, Spirit reveals itself in all of it glory.
In his work as a lay minister at an interfaith church, Cnawan has facilitated earth rituals designed to immerse the psyche into the metaphors of the season and to align the soul with the cycles of the Earth.
Cnawan has also led a variety of Eco-Spirituality immersion trips, outings, and workshops, and has taught wilderness survival skills as a form of ritual to connect with the Earth.